Bradley Wright's Blog

Summer camp for atheists

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Here's an interesting article in this week's Economist. Apparently a series of summer camps for kids from atheist families. The article frames these camps in terms of such kids needing social support, but what interests me is that it's another example of atheism being practiced in the same way that people practice religions.

The problem with linearity (comic)

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Some social things are linear, but many things are not... as shown in this comic.

Barn & lillies (pic)

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Hm-m-m-m, I seem to be stuck on barns. Another pic that I've posted before but I've redone it.

Theories of church growth

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Andy Rowell has done of nice job of summarizing some of the main theories about church growth. He identifies 14 factors, and what strikes me about this list is how wide-ranging the ideas are. Makes me think that we don't really know what's going on. :-/

"I looked at work from seven researcher teams: Stark, Hout/Greeley/Wilde, Woolever/Bruce, Stetzer/Dodson, Olson, Chaves, and Thumma.

Here is a summary of the 14 factors which I document fully below: (1) witnessing, (2) strictness, (3) high fertility rates, (4) caring for children and youth, (5) high involvement, (6) welcoming new people, (7) leadership, (8) prayer, (9) being a church of 1000+ attendees or under 50 attendees, (10) being located in rural counties, (11) being in rapidly growing zip codes, (12) being in a tradition that is altering worship practices slightly but not too much, (13) churches that offer “intimacy and choice” and (14) attractive worship style, senior pastor, and church reputation."

Religion in Scandinavia

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:09:00 +0000

Here's a very interesting article about religion in Scandinavia. It's based on the book Society without God by Phil Zuckerman. Though irreligious in many ways, the Danes and Swedes that he interviewed "were in no way despairing nihilists but “for the most part, a happy, satisfied lot” who “generally live productive, creative, contented lives.”"

They seem to embrace religion but at a very shallow cultural level. Actually believing in God in a deep, moving manner is almost a faux pas.

Sounds like an interesting book.

Thanks David!

Barn & Forsythia (pic)

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

This is probably the first picture I took that I still really like.... I took it several years ago and have been back in spring since, but it hasn't looked as good.

Dancing contagion

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:16:00 +0000

Here's an amusing example of contagion... a guy starts dancing by himself and soon starts quite the party.

It gives me hope that really, really bad dancers can make a difference in the world.

Thanks Adrienne!

The answer

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Here's the answer to yesterday's question. Frankly I thought that the Pope and Hannah Montana would have done better. As many golfers as Catholics and not that many preteen girls who answer surveys?
***

Who would you rather meet and have your picture taken with?...Barack Obama, the Pope, Hannah Montana, Tiger Woods

42% Barack Obama

21 The Pope

5 Hannah Montana

22 Tiger Woods

8 None (Vol.)

1 Don't know

FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll [June, 2009]

Today's obscure survey question:

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Somehow I came across this stirring bit of knowledge.

A FoxNews survey asked the following question:

Who would you rather meet and have your picture taken with?...Barack Obama, the Pope, Hannah Montana, Tiger Woods?

Any guesses as to how people answered? (I.e., the order of the four?) I'll post it tomorrow.

Cartoon about professors

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Guns to church?

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Well, this would be one way to make sure that sermons don't go on too long...

A story posted on BBC:

"A pastor in the US state of Kentucky has told his flock to bring handguns to church in what he says is an effort to promote safe gun ownership."

Red and yellow leaves (pic)

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

A picture from fall last year. I think that I've posted it before, but this is processed somewhat differently.

Too much stats...

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:40:00 +0000

Okay, I like statistics as much (and probably a lot more) than the next person, but this might be too much. Sometimes, perhaps especially in sports, statistics seem to based on supply rather than demand. In other words, we get them because the writer has them, not because anyone would be interested. Consider this snippet from somewhere on ESPN.com about why last night's game was "historic."

"Jacoby Ellsbury's Tuesday night was a historic occasion. Only twice since divisional play began has a Red Sox player hit two triples in a 4-hit performance."

Forgive me for not being overwhelmed....

Sifting and winnowing

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

This is a well-known plaque at the University of Wisconsin. It speaks for itself:

Blognation

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Here's an interesting article about blogging, and they very large number of inactive blogs. I post this story just so that this wouldn't be one of them. :-)

"According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on the Web, where they become public remnants of a dream — or at least an ambition — unfulfilled.

Judging from conversations with retired bloggers, many of the orphans were cast aside by people who had assumed that once they started blogging, the world would beat a path to their digital door....

Not all fallow blogs die from lack of reader interest. Some bloggers find themselves too busy — what with, say, homework and swim practice, or perhaps even housework and parenting. Others graduate to more immediate formats, like Twitter and Facebook. And a few — gasp — actually decide to reclaim some smidgen of personal privacy."

Thanks David!

How to create a best-selling book title

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:07:00 +0000

Here's a NYT article about the trend in publishing to give book's titles that are spin-offs of previous best sellers. So, Freakonomics has spawned Obamanomics, Womenomics, and various other -nomic titles. Other examples of knock-off titles are based on Prozac Nation and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Not wanting to be left behind, I think that I'll write a sure-fire best seller. How about this:

The Rise and Fall of American Christianity: The Story of a Freakonation by a Rogue Sociologist.

Any other ideas?

Thanks David!

The usefulness of social construction

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:02:00 +0000

Sometimes it's handy being a sociologist. Not as in fixing plumbing or repairing the car handy, but still useful. I have a flash drive (i.e., thumb drive) that I use to take info back and forth between the computers in the house. (One isn't on the web). Well, it kept on disappearing only to be found in family members' purses, backpacks, rooms, and wherever else. So, I needed a way of keeping track of it that would say to others: Don't take.

This is social construction... what could I use to construct that the flash drive isn't something to be taken away. After thinking about it for awhile, I came upon the perfect solution: I've tied it to one of the coffee cups that I sometimes use. There is a norm to leave other peoples' coffee cups alone, and it's not too heavy to carry around.

Haven't lost the flash drive since.

Birdhouse in fall (pic)

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:23:00 +0000

I was going through some photos from last October, and I came across this one that I had forgotten about.... Yes, the colors were just about that vivid!

Stereotypes of conservative Christians as all political conservatives

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

I just finished reading Andrew Greeley and Michael Hout's book The Truth about Conservative Christians. In it, they discuss the diversity of conservative Christians as well as stereotypes about them. (BTW, neither author is one). Below is a informative summary statement about the politics of conservative Christians, and it highlights how powerful (and inaccurate) stereotypes are about religous people:

"The additional vote of Conservative Protestants for Republican candidates, over and above that of Mainline American Protestants, is meager--about seven percentile points. Despite the depiction of Conservative Protestants by the media, by frightened liberals, and by the conservative leadership as if they were a massive and disciplined religio-political voting block, they are not. Indeed, we have argued, this image is a stereotype based on overgeneralization and prejudice. It is also a dangerous image because it marginalizes a major segment of American society because of inadequate information, bad information, and often no information at all. There may be alink between Conservative Christian religious convictions and political behavior but it is modest, even by social science standards." P. 69

Funny student evaluation

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:00:00 +0000

This last semester I taught social research methods, and though the class went okay, it often felt forced. I felt that I had to work hard all semester to engage the students.

While--we got our student evaluations back, and a student made this funny comment: "Try not to be so upbeat on super dull stuff." I'm not sure if this is a compliment (that I was upbeat) or a slam (that the material was super dull).

Why to get married young

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Here's an interesting article by top-drawer sociologist Mark Regnerus on marrying young. He's identified a social trend in which getting married young is seen as a bad thing, and he makes the case that it's actually a good idea. I suppose this makes it a form of deviance...

An excerpt from the article:

"In my research on young adults' romantic relationships, many women report feeling peer pressure to avoid giving serious thought to marriage until they're at least in their late 20s. If you're seeking a mate in college, you're considered a pariah, someone after her "MRS degree." Actively considering marriage when you're 20 or 21 seems so sappy, so unsexy, so anachronistic. Those who do fear to admit it -- it's that scandalous."

Robert Putnam's latest on religion

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Here's an article about Robert Putnam's forthcoming book: American Grace:

"Against the expectations of hard-core secularists, Putnam asserts, "religious Americans are nicer, happier, and better citizens." They are more generous with their time and money, not only in giving to religious causes but to secular ones. They join more voluntary associations, attend more public meetings, even let people cut in line in front of them more readily. Religious Americans are three to four times more socially engaged than the unaffiliated. Ned Flanders is a better neighbor."

There are, of course, a variety of causal issues regarding *why* this is the case, but it still makes for an interesting finding. I'm looking forward to reading the book.

Thank you Jay!

The apple fell far from the tree

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:06:00 +0000

Managing money is not my forte... I'm pretty happy spending whatever I have. As a parent, however, I want my kids to be more adept in this (as well as all areas). I think that I'm okay with 8-year-old Floyd.

Recently I borrowed $10 from him, to be paid back the next day. When he gave it to me, however, he said that I had to pay him for it. (He meant interest, but I don't know if anyone has told him about interest). I said sure, how about 50 cents--5% for an overnight loan. No, this little loanshark said $1 or nothing. While feigning outrage, I was pleased that he's thinking about money.

Do you live in a Lutheran community?

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

I recently finished reading "The American Church in Crisis" by David Olson. He presents a lot of data about church attendance rates across the country, and he presents this memorable line about where Lutherans are located:

"The farther a state is from the Minnesota-Dakota border, the lower the percentage of Lutherans."

Sure enough, judging from the map he presents, that's true. So, just take out your atlas, and you'll know something about the religious composition of your community.

National Congregation Study full report

bradley.wright@uconn.edu (Brad Wright) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Mark Chaves, of Duke University, just came out with the full report from the important National Congregation Study.

Here's its summary of findings (taken from the report itself):

***

What Are Our Most Important Observations? This report highlights some of the National Congregations Study’s most important findings, including:
• Most congregations are small but most people are in large congregations.
• Worship services are becoming more informal.
• Congregational leaders are still overwhelmingly male.
• Predominantly white congregations are more ethnically diverse.
• Congregations embrace technology.
• Congregations and clergy are getting older.
• Congregations’ position in the social class structure remains unchanged.
• Congregations’ involvement in social service activities remains unchanged.
• Only a small minority of congregations describe themselves as theologically “liberal,” even within the Protestant mainline.
• Congregations are more tolerant and inclusive than we might expect them to be, even when it comes to hot-button issues.
• There has been no significant increase in congregational confl ict since 1998.
• Congregations’ involvement in political activities is largely unchanged since 1998.